The Times quick guides to culture, day 3 — the 20 most influential plays in theatre history. By Benedict Nightingale

1. Oedipus the King
Sophocles 429BC
Sophocles was the ideal Athenian . By the time he died, aged 90 in 406BC,
he’d been diplomat, general, priest, and the playwright who triumphed again
and again in the city’s major dramatic contest, the Great Dionysia. Oddly, Oedipus
Tyrannus, which many regard as the ideal tragedy, won him only
second place. The winner is forgotten, however, and it’s Sophocles’ plot
that makes us, in Aristotle’s words, “thrill with horror and melt with
pity”. The play is as horribly logical and ironic as it is deftly
characterised and beautifully written. The plague ravaging Thebes won’t